Oga Line
Rural railway line in Japan
The Oga Line (男鹿線, Oga-sen) is a railway line in Japan operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East). It connects Oiwake Station in Akita, Akita Prefecture to Oga Station in Oga, Akita Prefecture, although all trains begin and end at Akita Station and run via through service onto the Ōu Main Line. It is nicknamed the Oga Namahage Line (男鹿なまはげライン).
01Stations
All stations are in Akita Prefecture.
| Station | Japanese name |
Distance (km) |
Transfers | Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All trains have through service and run to/from Akita Station via the Ōu Main Line. | ||||||
| Oiwake | 追分 | 0.0 | ■ Ōu Main Line | Akita | ||
| Detohama | 出戸浜 | 5.1 | Katagami | |||
| Kamifutada | 上二田 | 8.3 | ||||
| Futada | 二田 | 10.4 | ||||
| Tennō | 天王 | 13.2 | ||||
| Funakoshi | 船越 | 14.9 | Oga | |||
| Wakimoto | 脇本 | 18.9 | ||||
| Hadachi | 羽立 | 23.7 | ||||
| Oga | 男鹿 | 26.4 | ||||
02Rolling stock
03History
The line first opened on 9 November 1913 as the Funakawa Light Railway (船川軽便線, Funakawa Keiben) from Oiwake to Futada. This was extended to Wakimoto on 8 November 1914, to Hadachi on 1 December 1915, and to Funakawa (present-day Oga Station) on 16 December 1916. On 2 September 1922, the line was renamed the Funakawa Line (船川線, Funakawa-sen).
A freight-only branch from Funakawa to Funakawaminato was opened on 10 June 1937.
On 1 April 1968, the line was renamed the Oga Line, coinciding with the renaming of Funakawa Station to Oga Station.
With the privatization of Japanese National Railways (JNR) on 1 April 1987, the line came under the control of JR East.
04Recent developments
In spring 2017, a new EV-E801 series battery electric multiple unit train was introduced on the Oga Line service from Akita. A special recharging facility was built at Oga Station.
So far, there is only one battery electric trainset operated on this line, but in December 2019 JR East announced the plan to introduce additional such trainsets on this route after the fiscal year 2020, completely replacing KiHa 40 and 48 diesel multiple units.
JR East ordered 5 additional trainsets, and as of March 2021, Oga Line service consists of only battery electric trains; this has already happened in other non-electrified railway lines in Japan, for example, on the Kashii Line and the Karasuyama Line.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Oga Line”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Oga-Line-EV-E801-G1.jpg by MaedaAkihiko, CC BY-SA 4.0
- EV-E801 G1 train set at Akita 20190803a.jpg by 掬茶, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Series40 48.Oga-line.jpg by MaedaAkihiko, CC BY-SA 4.0
- JR East EV-E801 G1 train set at Oga Station 20180818a.jpg by 掬茶, CC BY-SA 4.0
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